Cyberactivists launch "Unite for Syria" campaign

An online campaign urging world leaders to find a solution for the crisis in Syria. A web user known as « Reply Girl » has the web abuzz. And a time lapse video documenting the nine months of a couple’s pregnancy…

Cyberactivists launch "Unite for Syria" campaign

« Unite for Syria, stop one year of bloodshed » This is the campaign slogan adopted by social networkers to mark the first anniversary of the start of the Syrian uprising. Web users from all over the world are encouraged to take photos holding a sign bearing these words, to voice their solidarity with the people of Syria and demand an end to the bloodbath across the country.

The campaign is targeting world leaders. In this open letter, fifty or so well-known international figures are urging the UN Security Council to find a solution for the crisis in Syria.

The website « Syrian Stories » set up in collaboration with journalists, the International Federation for Human Rights and Telecomix, a hacker collective which has been providing support to Syrian activists, has also been covering the crisis. The people behind the project have compiled amateur video footage testifying to one year of revolution and repression.

In addition to all the online initiatives, rallies are being planned in cities worldwide including Paris, Cairo and Washington over the next few days, with people taking to the streets to show their support for Syria’s opposition. These demonstrations will echo those taking place in Syria, to mark the first anniversary of the start of the uprising, a protest movement which does not appear to be waning, despite months of ruthless repression.

The "Reply Girl" phenomenon

Alejandra Gaitan, aka "Reply Girl" is the latest Internet sensation. She has been creating quite a buzz among the online community, with the hundreds of videos she has posted on sharing sites, in which she talks about anything and everything, and uses her sex appeal, and her cleavage, to grab web users’ attention. Her stated aim is to drive more web traffic to her channel, as the more hits she gets the more money she makes from advertisers.

And her idea is clearly working, between them her online videos have been viewed some 13 million times. This staggering popularity has inspired scores of other web users, most of them men, to make their own parody video clips, poking fun at Reply Girls suggestive or raunchy poses and the incredible online frenzy she has created.

Some have gone one step further. This budding musician has composed a song for the famous “Reply Girl”. He admits to watching her videos on a regular basis, but does not actually listen to a word she says.

But « Reply Girl” has also made a few enemies, and a campaign has been started to get her banned from sharing sites. This female blogger says Alejandra Gaitan’s videos are pointless and portray women in a very poor light. A view shared by the people behind this e-petition asking YouTube to remove or block these videos, comparing them to spam videos, which goes against the sharing site community’s guidelines.

"Exploring Orchidée Impériale" by Guerlain

The new face of Guerlain, Malaysian born actress Michelle Yeoh, is currently starring in a novel web series aired on the perfume house’s web site. The series is looking both at the world of orchids, a popular ingredient in Guerlain products and also the “orchidarium” project which was set up by Guerlain to protect these rare flowers. There are already three episodes available to view online, in which Michelle Yeoh visits different parts of the Guerlain “orchidarium’; an experimental garden in Switzerland, a research laboratory in France and a nature reserve in China’s Yunnan province.

Now trending on social networks

The famous Encyclopaedia Britannica has announced that after 244 years, no more editions will be put to paper, and all future editions will exist exclusively online. The news spread quickly across the net; most web users feel the transition to digital was inevitable, and it marks the end of an era for Encyclopaedia Britannica. Others have been saying that the success of Wikipedia probably had its part to play in this change of strategy.

Video of the day

This young couple had a great time capturing the progress of their pregnancy on camera right up to the birth of their little girl, Amélie Amaya. This heartwarming video was made used the time lapse technique and is proving hugely popular on the web; with over 4 million hits in just under a week.